


Let Me Protect You

by OpalPenWriter



Series: Of a Different Verse [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Both boys are a bit stubborn, Derek is bad a feelings, Derek is trying to protect his mate, Derek really just wants to smash all things that hurt Stiles, Derek tries hard to take care of Stiles, Different Kind of Verse AU, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Mentions of past relationship abuse, Scott is there too, Slight OOC Derek, Slight OOC Stiles, Stiles and Derek need to really just sit down and talk., Stiles is abused, because of his last relationship, but he tries, happy ending-ish, probably next installment though, slightly angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-29
Updated: 2014-08-29
Packaged: 2018-02-15 05:34:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2217639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpalPenWriter/pseuds/OpalPenWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek is trying to clean up after Kevin. He is trying his hardest to make sure that Stiles gets better and is in a loving environment. However, the more Derek tries, the worst and more awkward it seems to get. Like most things in his life, its takes a catalyst before things start going right for Derek. After all, he's just trying to be a good mate and Alpha for Stiles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Protect You

**Author's Note:**

> This took a really long time because of my move to College and a lot of work and stuff I am not going to get into. I've re-read this several time and tried to polish it up the best I can, since I no longer have a beta on call. However, I did do my best to clean this up. If you see something though, please feel free to tell me! I hope you enjoy this though! 
> 
> This is a sort of peek into the aftermath of Kevin and how Derek is trying to be a good Alpha.

Days and weeks went by without incident. Time creeped along as slow as molasses in the middle of a cold and harsh winter. It was hard to tell when the days merged together and the weeks passed by how time had really passed.

It felt significantly longer than actuality since Derek and Scott had gotten their hands dirty and delivered the sweet justice that was fully deserved onto a true monster.

Stiles had not said much about Kevin since his sudden and tragic disappearance. Derek was sure that somewhere deep down inside of Stiles, the kid knew that Kevin was bad for him and that Scott and Derek were involved in some fashion.

Stiles was all too smart for him not to know, in some degree, that Derek and Scott had taken care of Kevin. The freckled face kid knew and Derek knew that he knew. Stiles just chose to not to say anything, and the werewolf took it as a silent and feeble “Thank You” from a broken and battered boy.

Derek also took it as Stiles refusing to acknowledge that Kevin had been a problem. The brunette had constantly been chastised for his choices, Derek was sure that Stiles couldn’t handle someone calling him ‘stupid’ or ‘idiotic’ for staying with some like Kevin. Stiles wouldn’t be able to handle people lecturing him on his choices like they always seem to do.

Not that Derek could or even would blame Stiles for anything of what had happened. He understood all too well how people could manipulate and control thoughts and actions.

They had done everything possible to prevent any kind of actual remains being found by the time anyone had noticed the asshole’s disappearance. Kevin had paid for his crimes against Stiles and that had been the fun part for both Derek and Scott.

Cleaning up was a little less fun, but nothing that had been overly difficult. It was almost the equivalent of taking out discarded trash and burning it.

Kevin had been insignificant in Derek’s eyes,and the wolf was certain nobody really would investigate his disappearance too much, but Scott assured him that the body had to disappear along with any kind of obvious evidence they may or may not have left behind anyway.

They couldn’t just leave it to an animal attack this time. The body was far too mangled and there was damage across the face that no animal could ever create. The two broken knees and pulled teeth were also obvious indicators to foul play.

Besides, the more that Derek thought about it, the more Derek wanted to make sure that Kevin would never be found and any kind of memory of the man would fade. Derek wanted every trace of Kevin to disappear from the face of the Earth. As if the rat and monster never existed in this world or the world of Stiles.

  
\----

Kevin’s body had already thoroughly discomposed of before a missing person’s report could be filed.

Police had come to Beacon Hills looking for him, only to find Kevin’s and his car alone. Even then, that was because Derek didn’t get to the blue sports car in time to destroy it as well.

Even with Kevin gone, the damage had already been done. Stiles was a skittish mess around almost anybody he came into contact with. It amazed Derek to no end that the Sheriff had not noticed it at all.

Sudden noises and movements had the brunette jolt to the side or flinch away in a sort of habitual reaction.

If Boyd hovered too close or if Isaac became a bit more snarky that normal, Stiles would clam up and hide within himself. Any smart remarks from Stiles were bitten off and he became far more quiet than he had ever been in the years that Derek had known him. It didn’t help that the betas poked and prodded up Stiles as if he was some kind of experiment, trying to understand why his behavior had changed so suddenly.

At times, Derek wanted to crack open some of Deaton’s books so he could bring Kevin back to life, just to kill him again in a completely and utterly more brutal way.

Deaton advised him firmly that it was not a good idea to tamper with the undead, especially with one that probably had ill feelings towards Derek and Scott anyway. So, Derek did the next best thing. He tried to alter his behavior around Stiles, conscious of all his actions because he truly didn’t want to be Kevin.

Derek wanted to be anything but Kevin, in Stiles’ eyes. Even if that meant he would still be that asshole ‘sourwolf.’ He was fine with that.

At pack meetings, Derek had to refrain from snarling at the betas, lest he scare Stiles half to death and listen as the boy’s heart beat skyrocketed and feel completely guilty about it for hours on end.

Even sudden moments from Scott had Stiles on edge. The beta was so distraught that he couldn’t rough house with his best friend or sneak up behind him and tackle Stiles like he used to. Stiles was simply not the same anymore.

Derek had outright banned Erica from viciously teasing Stiles anymore, and Isaac wasn’t even allowed to breath the wrong way around Stiles.

While Stiles slowly and surely began to show signs of his regular self, it still was not the same.

His wolf was desperate to protect and nurture Stiles and wanted nothing more than for Stiles to be happy and to be able to feel fully safe again. Derek couldn’t think of anything else in the world that would cause him more joy than for Stiles to return to the person he once was.

He followed Stiles into almost every room when the boy was over at the rebuilt Hale House. He would stand far too close to Stiles when they were together and Derek even growled if there was so much as a single ill word spoken to or about Stiles.

Stiles was supposed to be healing. He was surrounded by a pack that loved him and cared for him and they would never let a single person ever touch him again without his permission.

However, it took a long time Derek to accept the fact that Stiles was not going to get better overnight. His wolf would whine and howl at the minimal amounts of progress being made. Stiles was still cowering in fear.

He was still flinching away, more so from Derek than anyone else and that hurt more than the bearded man was going to ever let on to. Scott had to reassure him that progress was being made and Derek was just letting his anger for Kevin come to the surface and the resulting factor was a freaked out Stiles.

Derek realized during some alone time after a disastrous pack meeting which led to the beating of Peter for placing a hand on Stiles’s thigh and Scott talking Stiles down from an extremely bad panic attack, that Stiles needed someone other than Derek to protect him and help him.

As much as the older wolf would love to wrap himself around Stiles to let the other know that he was not alone and never would be alone, Stiles and himself didn’t exactly have the best friendship in the world.

They constantly bickered and fought, held screaming matches at each other and usually neither of them came out the victor. Derek was not what Stiles needed and while his wolf couldn’t settled for that, Derek would. Derek was not helping Stiles, as much as he would like to think. By smothering the other with the sudden attention and protection, Derek realized that he was hurting Stiles.

Derek wanted nothing more than for Stiles to get better, so he decided that he would leave the healing to the best person for the job.

Scott.

While his inner instincts didn’t trust the beta to completely help Stiles, Derek knew that there was no other person. Scott was Stiles’ go-to man. They were friends, brothers even and nothing in the natural or supernatural world could ever tear that bond apart.

It hurt in more ways that one, but Stiles didn’t need Derek. Stiles needed Scott. Stiles needed the love and compassion from his friend more than he needed it from a grouchy Alpha who couldn’t correctly put his feelings into actual words.

So Derek did what Derek does best. He lets Scott take the lead and slips into the shadows and watches his mate from afar. Derek is just as good at playing defense as he is offense.

He is certainly used to pining for Stiles at a distance anyway.

It only takes one day before Derek begins to follow Stiles around to make sure nothing or no one can hurt him again. He trusts Scott to some extent and knows the Beta can handle any Stiles related situation, but he can’t help the need and the want to protect and love.

Its not healthy, and he knows that if Stiles were to find out, it would only make the entire situation worse, but Derek cannot help it. He cannot sit around (nor can his wolf) and just assume that his mate his fine. He needs to know and physically see that Stiles is unharmed.

Its not like he didn’t already follow Stiles before the whole Kevin thing went down. Occasionally he would stop by the Stilinski house or follow the scent of the annoying teenager as he ran across town on Saturdays to compete some meaningless chores. It only made Derek that much more furious to even think about how he didn’t pick up on Kevin then, instead of when the man starting leaving bruises that actually showed.

Even then, it had been Scott to pull the information out of Stiles. It had been Scott that brought it to Derek’s attention. Things could have ended far worse than they had, it if had not been for Scott.

Now, Derek just follows Stiles more than usual. He stalks around Beacon Hills High, careful not to be seen but also desperate to keep his eyes on Stiles at all times. Derek would like to think he has some dignity left, but after hanging in a tree for two hours just to watch Stiles run across the Lacrosse Field during practice left the wolf with no doubts that he had stooped to a new low.

It wasn’t as if he was doing out of anything else but the sheer need and want to make sure Stiles was okay 24/7. Albeit, Stiles was Derek’s mate and the wolf found the simplest of pleasures in just watching Stiles and how the young boy moved and went about his daily life, but this (he wouldn’t calling it stalking) sort of protection-from-a-far was out of necessity, not pleasure.

Derek didn’t trust a single soul around Stiles that he didn’t know personally. Anything that moved the wrong way around Stiles, or a kid that just smelled slightly off, and Derek would be chasing them off when Stiles’ back was turned.

Almost every male at the school, and probably inside of Beacon Hills, knew that Stiles was off limits more so than they already did. Derek had taken it up to a completely new level. There was not a single place that Stiles went that Derek hadn’t already scoped out before hand, had one of his betas do it, or was simply there with Stiles, stalking(watching after) him in the darkness of the kid’s peripheral vision.

Derek also began to invite Stiles and Scott over for take out when the Sheriff had to work late, which is more often than not. If he can’t keep an eye on Stiles, Derek makes sure that the Stiles is with him, or Scott is taking over the watchdog duties.

Derek nearly drags Stiles to every pack meeting, and there have been a few occasions where Derek insisted Stiles spend the night at his home just so he could catch some sleep himself without worrying about Stiles.

His lovely, amazing, yet so terribly stubborn mate.

Even with all the precautions and the aid of Scott, Stiles still manages to find trouble. And Derek had honestly thought he had murdered the last of trouble only a couple of months ago.

Honestly, its beginning to get a bit out of hand. His wolf growls and snarls at every stranger that comes close to his mate. It boils and bubbles underneath his skin and Derek does everything in his power, short of tying himself down, to prevent his animalistic side from making an ugly appearance. It may have been somewhat of Derek’s fault that a situation turned into some far more than what it should have been.

Maybe the guy at the supermarket should have realized the giant ass Memo that Derek had mentally sent out to every citizen in Beacon Hills and the surrounding area that Stiles was under Derek’s care.

And everyone knew the age old rumor of Derek being a psychopathic murderer. The wolf wasn’t exactly going to give the townsfolk proof, though.

\----

It all comes to a head when a guy shoves Stiles slightly in the store one night. Slightly being a near punch to the shoulder if Derek had to define it. Stiles had been in the store for a little over fifteen minutes and Derek could pinpoint the exact minute when the asshole had targeted his mate.

Stiles flinches away from the older shopper and it sends a bit of shock running down the wolf’s spine. Normally, the brunette would not have thought twice about spouting out some snarky ass comment lace with venom and sarcasm. Instead, he did just the opposite. Stiles clammed up and even apologized to the dick.

_Apologized._

The effects of Kevin’s ruthlessness, more than likely. Stiles had been trained and beaten into a pattern of submissiveness. It had been burned in Stiles head that he was the fault of all things bad that came his way.

Derek felt his claws extend slightly, pricking the skin of his balled up fist. His teeth flashed and his mouth suddenly felt full with them extended. It was pr

It could have been an accident, if Derek squinted his eyes and strongly used his imagination. The guy had literally reached out with his hand and shoved Stiles. It was not an accidental bump or misstep, but Stiles obviously didn’t want to create a situation, so Derek expliciting tried to control himself for the sake of Stiles.

_Try._

The self control that Derek exhibited should have gained him sainthood, and he dug his claws deep into the flesh of his thigh just to keep from sprinting across the parking lot and tearing new holes into the prick.

He didn’t want to cause a scene and have Stiles hate him more than the boy already did. He didn’t want to embarrass Stiles.

That was until the asshole began spewing homophobic hate at Stiles’ general direction.

That was the line and the motherfucker just crossed it.

Derek was sure he flew across the parking lot, having been stationed at his Camaro near the back underneath a broken street lamp that flickered occasionally but never was able to fully function.

His footsteps were fast and he even hopped over several cars, getting looks from the few stragglers and shoppers. Crazier things had happened at night in Beacon Hills.

Derek was not too concerned about their opinion anyway.

He’s inside the store in a matter of seconds even though it felt like hours. The asswipe sees Derek first and Stiles himself only gets the chance to turn slightly before the wolf has the man jerked up by the collar of his shirt and slammed down in the basket of the shopping cart like an oversized child.

Derek can hear Stiles, like one would hear a faint buzzing of a distinct bug, but his focus and line of sight are narrowed in on the asshole who stared back at Derek with wide and frightened eyes.

Derek didn’t even realize he was growling until Stiles slapped him hard on his shoulder, doing more damage to the himself than Derek.

“Come on! We’re going outside!” Stiles instructed, falling into his usual flailing self. Long arms and legs moving in different directions to get Derek outside and away from the general public who already thought Derek was weird, so they totally didn’t need to see his fangs or lack of eyebrows.

“You are so damn lucky its late! What the hell was that? Seriously? What the fuck was that? Someone could have saw you?! Do you realize the scene you caused!!”

Derek snarled at Stiles, not in a way in which a predator would snarl at prey, but in a way that an alpha would snarl when annoyed with a beta.

“He was being an asshole.”

“Yeah! People are assholes to me all the time! Including you. Its nothing new! However-” Stiles paused his mini rant, hands motioning to Derek’s general form, almost hitting Derek in the chest because they were still so close.

“-This. This is new. This whole, I am going to just go and apparently stalk Stiles, because you totally think you’re slick and I don’t notice you, and let everyone know that I’m a freaky supernatural being. That is new!”

“I was-...My wolf was…” Derek paused, features slowly dissolving and his more human disguise taking shape as his heartrate dropped and his blood was no longer hot with the urge to kill and mane.

“Your wolf was what? Being a pretentious asshole like always? Sticking its nose in my business? Following me around like some psychopath?!” Stiles snapped, raw emotion emitting off him. Anger was there, but there was a deep, almost hidden feeling that Derek could scent.

“I was _protecting_ you. I will always protect you. Like a good mate.” Derek murmured, before he could register the words that came out of his mouth. He saw it though, when it dawned on Stiles what Derek had actually said.

He was not sure if he was scare of rejection or just didn’t want to hear the bullshit that came from Stiles’ mouth half the time, but Derek turned and hightailed it out of the parking lot just at the young male took in a breath to start another rant of his.

Derek was sure that Stiles was going to name a thousand reasons why Derek was no good for him. They obviously didn’t get along well and barely could be in the same room before some kind of bitch fight took place between them.

Derek couldn’t handle the rejection. He didn’t want to hear the reality of rejection and instead he just ran. He was a chicken shit and though he wouldn’t admit it, Derek was simply scared of the thought of Stiles not wanting to be with him like Derek wanted to be with Stiles.

Its not like Stiles really cared. He obviously saw everything that Derek did as creepy and weird. The wolf wondered if Stiles even compared him to Kevin, and he had to suppress the growl as he passed a few shoppers on the way to his car.

He ignored Stiles’s desperate yelling as he drove away. He needed a moment to himself. Without Stiles or anything else clustering every inch and crevice of his mind.

Derek just needed to think. He needed to breathe and collect himself before he could ever begin to face Stiles again. He needed time to build himself up for the sure-fire ‘no’ that Stiles would have waiting for him.

\----

It was kind of obvious that Stiles would be waiting for him at his apartment. If Derek was honest with himself, he probably would have been disappointed otherwise.

He could smell the boy before he saw him. His scent was strong and alluring, like warm cinnamon and vanilla. It waffed through the vents on the elevator, and trailed down the hall, throw the thin wooden door with the tiny peephole and into his open living room.

Stiles is sitting on the arm of the couch, something that would tick Derek off to no end if it was not for the current situation. Derek distinctly remembers blurting out the word ‘mate’ and knowing Stiles, the boy was not going to let it.

“Go away, Stiles.” Derek attempts, pulling off his leather jacket and throwing it across the back of the couch, trying to pretend that the irritating brunette was not there.

They both knew that Stiles was not going anywhere. Not without answers at least.

“At the store-”

“I freaked out. Embarrassed you. I’m sorry. Leave.” Derek cut in, leaving his answers as short as possible. He kept his back turned to Stiles, not being able to look at the other.

He knew he’d open like a book for the boy. Those beautiful eyes that held such awe and questioning. The rambling that would have Derek smiling softly, even if nobody else noticed but Stiles. The same rambling that made Derek absolutely lose his shit and start spewing words that were never supposed to formulate into actual noises that the other could hear.

He couldn’t look at Stiles. He couldn’t look at the boy knowing that they were never going to be more than distant friends.

Derek was sure he couldn’t take the blow to his already fragile sanity.

“We both know I’m not leaving.” Stiles said, turning his body to look at Derek, even when the wolf refused to do the same. “Look. I want to say sorry for being an asshole. You...you were only trying to look after me.”

“Its no big deal. Promise.”

“But it is. And you know why.”

“Stiles-”

“No, Derek. Obviously we have issues between each other. Obviously we’ve both been a bit blind-”

“A bit?” Derek snapped as he turned now to the other. He wanted to rant and rave how Stiles had been blind the entire time with Kevin. He wanted to point out and scream at the boy for making excuses for Kevin, but chastise Derek for trying to do the right thing.

He said none of those things, knowing the negative impact it would cause. He couldn’t handle seeing Stiles a mess, and those words would dissolve him completely.

Stiles retracts, the evidence of the aftermath that Kevin has left. It only makes Derek that much more frustrated and angry.

He inhales through his nose, runs a hand through his dark mane of hair before turning to Stiles fully. Derek gets himself under control, in more ways than one before he finally speaks again.

“What do you want from me, Stiles?”

“I want to know what you meant by mate.”

Derek is sure that Stiles already knows. The kid is smart and does research like a professional scholar. Anything that piqued his interest or if there was a single thing he was not aware of, Stiles would research and look up and learn about until he felt like he was satisfied with knowledge.

Stiles knew, that much Derek was sure of. The kid just wanted to hear it from Derek’s mouth.

“Its stupid. Not that importa-”

“Don’t. Don’t pull that bullshit on me.”

“Stiles-”

“Stop fucking around the bush, Derek. Tell me. Tell me why you said I was your mate.”

“Because you are!” Derek growled out, ready to rip every single follicle of hair out of his head. “You’re my mate, Stiles! You’re the one that my wolf needs. That I need. I have the urge and desire to protect and love and care for you because mates is something rare. Its different. Its when two people who are so perfect together finally find each other. I didn’t just throw that word out there because I felt like it! I didn’t say it to pull a joke on you!” Derek is not sure why all the words are coming out at once, but he doesn’t feel like he can stop them.

“I love you Stiles! I love every fiber of your being and every aspect of your personality and you as whole, even if you make my question my sanity constantly! My wolf stirs at night, begging for you! Begging to claim you because I want to bond with you! Mate you and make sure no one ever hurts you ever again!.”

Derek takes a breath, his chest heaving and his heartbeat racing. This is one time out of many that Derek is thankful that Stiles is not supernatural.

The human sits there, in a sat of awestruck as he stares at Derek. There is something there, dancing behind his eyes, but Derek cannot decipher it. The silence almost kills him.

“I love you, Stiles. I always have. But I wanted you to have a choice, even if I didn’t.” Derek added after the silence stretched out across them.

“You’re so stupid.” Stiles shot back at him as he stood, making long strides across the room until he stood before the older male. The wolf whined in protest, thinking the brunette boy was leaving and never going to return and Derek was sure that Stiles was going to avoid him for the rest of time.

“You never even asked, Derek.”

They’re pressing against each other before Derek can process the information that had been passed between them. Clumsy and unskilled lips meet his in a frenzy as Stiles desperately moves against his body in a vague attempt to create friction.

Stiles was almost all teeth. His inexperience was showing through and that surprised Derek deeply. Kevin had obviously lacked in several areas more than Derek had first thought.

The wolf tried not to preen the thought. It was not the time nor the place to do so.

Not that he was disappointed. It only made his wolf giddy and shudder slightly at the thought of showing Stiles all the amazing things they could do together.

And his wolf really wanted to show Stiles tonight, against the wall, in the bed and maybe in the shower as they prepped for a round three. His wolf needed to claim and mate and rut against Stiles until the human didn’t even know his own name.

Derek and his wolf were nearly on the same page for once in his life, but the brief remembrance of Kevin had the werewolf coming back down to his senses, trying to clear a lust hazed mind.

His dick would have to wait, even if that was not how Stiles wanted it to go, if the whine that emitted from Stiles was anything to go by as Derek pried the younger boy off him.

He couldn’t do this with Stiles. Not tonight and not rushed like it was some one-night rendezvous. Derek wanted to do this right, when Kevin wasn’t still a fresh memory for all of them.

It was the look of hesitation or how Stiles nearly curled in on himself as if he was expecting Derek to strike him that made the older man hesitant to take Stiles to bed with him.

Derek couldn’t do this with Stiles. Not now. Eventually, but not know.

“Is it something I did?”

“Oh, no. No, Stiles. Its never been anything you’ve done.” Derek spoke, words soft as he cupped the other’s face, offering a gentle smile. “I should have asked. I could have saved us both so much pain-”

“Please, dont-”

“I know. I know it hurts. Its still fresh in your mind. This is why we’re not doing this. Not now. Later. Definitely later. Stiles, we have so much we have to work out right now.”

The hurt and wounded look in Stiles’s eyes faded with each word. He gripped Derek’s forearms tighter and pulled him close into a hug.

Derek could smell the relief. He could smell the happiness mixed with a sharp twang of pain and remembrance.

Derek would help Stiles. He would protect and he would love Stiles, no matter what.

And Stiles finally understood that.


End file.
